Pre-Meta KEF Reference 1 or LS50 Meta

Whatever the Meta material is, it's not magical. The Ref 1 is in an entirely different league. With or without meta material. 

The KEF KC62 with the LS50 Meta plays deeper than the Reference 1. Not sure about sonics being in a different league. I have heard both and own the LS50 Meta and sub. My gear at home is likely better (for my ears) than the gear I heard with the Reference 1.

My assumption is that the Meta material is doing the same thing as the tube in the Yamaha NS5000 and the tubes in Vivid speakers.

Yes, monitor speakers with a sub will play deeper than monitor speakers without a sub. Does adding a sub make lesser speakers sound better? Debatable. 

Lethargy is likely to win out and the Reference 1s will stay in place until I replace everything except the Ayre disc player and subs with LS60.

I would say stay with the R1s and adjust from there. I moved to LS50 Metas and they are great but they really needed some power and also a KC62 sub with a ~90hz crossover. In the end the biggest factor has been room placement and tuning. With the sub it allows me to pull them 3.5ft from the back and side walls. My amp also does not have to work too hard with the 84db efficiency given that all the bass is directed to the KC62 sub. My next step is more room tuning and the potential of adding another KC62 sub into the mix. For main monitors the R1s should still be great.